Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1887-02-25
CHAPTER III.
UNnOrA ENTERS oITp crp,-rcr

tnbpiA In lERS otk SERVICE.
1t takes from four to five days, according
to the vessel aud the state of the weather.
TO run up from the Cape to Durham. Some
times, IL the landing is bad at East London.
where they have not yet got that wonderful
harbor they talk so much Of and sink such
mint of money in, one is delayed for TWEEN
ty-tour hours before the cargo boats can get
out to take the goods Off. But on this occa-
sion we had not to wait at all, for there were
no breakers on the bar to speak OF, and the
tugs came out at once with their long strings
of ugly hat-bottomed boats, into which the
goods were bundeled with a crash. 1t did
not matter what they were. over they went,
slap, bang; whether they were china or
WOODEN goods they met with the same treat
ment l saw one case containing four dozen
of champagne smashed all to bits, and there
was the champagne fixing and boiling
about in the bottom OF the dirty cargo boat.
1t WAS wicked waste, and so evidently the
kafhs in the boat thought, for they found a
couple of unbroken bottles, and, knocking
the tops off, drank the contents But they
had not allowed for the expansion caused by
the i1z in the wine, and feeling themselves
swelling, rolled about in the bottom of the
boat, calling out that the good liquor was
N'>'N'A NfN"tsNiiSNls iSluht W iiltlu llOll
the vessel, and told them that it was the
white mans strongest medicine, and that
they were as good ms dead men. They went
on TO the shore in very great fright, and l
do not think that they viii touch champagne
again.
Well, all the time we were running IN 10
Natal was thinking over Sir Henry Cur
It's offer. We did not speak any more on
Tho sY,hIa,t for, 10 IL
them many hunting yarns. all true ones.
for so many curious things happen within
the knowledge Of a man whose business ii is
to hunt; but this is by the way.
At last one beautiful evening In January,
which is our hottest month. We steamed
along the coast of Natal, expecting TO make
Durham Point by sunset 1t is lovely coast
ali along from East London. with its red
ssndhills and wide sweeps of vivid green,
dotted here and there with Kafr kraals and
bordereu by ribbon of white surf, which
speuts up in pillars Of foam where it hits the
rocks. But just before you get TO Durham
there is peculiar richness about it There
are the deep kloofs cut in the hills by the
rushing rains of centuries, down which the
rivers sparkle; there Is the deepest green OF
sAtc tHsii. kAONsi NNd litAtSu II. thd NatI
other greens of the meslie gardens and the
sugar patches, while here and there white
house, smiling out on the placid sea, puts a
finish and gives an air of honielineSs TO the
scene. For TO my mind however beautiful a
view may be, 1t requires the presence OF man
to make 1t complete, but perhaps that is be-
cause l have lived SO much in the wilderness,
and therefore know the value of civilization,
though to be sure it drives away the game.
The Garden of Eden, no doubt, was fair be-
fore man was but always think it must
have been fairer when Eve was walking
about it But we had mtscalculated little,
and the sun was well down before we
dropped anchor off the Point and heard the
gun which told the good folk that the En-
slish mail was in. 1t was too late to think
OF getting over the bar that night so went
down comfortable to dinner, after seeing the
mails carried off in the lifeboat
When we came up again the moon was up,
| and shining so brightly over the sea and
shore that she almost paled the quick. large
flashes from the lighthouse. From the shore
toated sweet spicy odors that always re
mind me OF hymns and missionaries, and in
| the windows of the houses on the Berea
| sparkled hundred lights. From a large
brig lying near came the music of the sailors
as they worked at getting the anchor up to
be ready for the wind Altogether twas q